Mr. Petersen has spent his entire legal career with Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP, becoming a partner in 1981. He was instrumental in building the Firm's public contracts and procurement practice upon a strong foundation of public finance, project finance, tax and environmental expertise, and since 1984 has practiced full time and is nationally recognized as a leader in this field. Mr. Petersen has, on behalf of municipal government, been the lead negotiator in more than 100 major public works contract procurements. These have resulted in design-build, design-build-operate, and asset management contracts with private service providers nationally and internationally valued at several billion dollars, including contracts for projects in the water, wastewater, solid waste, electric power, transportation and civic facilities sectors. His clients in more than two dozen states have included towns, cities, counties, districts and public authorities, as well as the governments of the United States and several states and foreign nations, and his professional experience encompasses all forms of public-private arrangements under which public works facilities are owned, permitted, designed, built, operated and financed.

In the water and wastewater sector, Mr. Petersen was the chief architect of the groundbreaking Cranston (RI) wastewater public-private partnership and related USEPA approvals, the first 20-year contract in the country for the operation, maintenance, repair and replacement of a large wastewater system and the design and construction of related system capital improvements. In Seattle (WA), he authored the Tolt River design-build-operate water treatment plant contract as special counsel to the City, the first transaction of its kind in the water industry. Mr. Petersen has also played a key role as special counsel in the development and management of major North American water, wastewater and residuals management projects in Phoenix (AZ), Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (Boston), Stockton (CA), Fulton County (GA), San Diego County Water Authority (CA), San Jose (CA), Waterbury (CT), Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA), Sacramento (CA), Springfield (MA), Spokane County (WA), Laredo (TX), Lynn (MA), Naugatuck (CT), Newport (RI), San Juan Capistrano (CA), Charlotte (NC), Tijuana (MX) and several dozen eastern U.S. Navy bases.

In the solid waste sector, his experience as procurement and contract counsel extends to the full range of municipal solid waste management projects and services. These include waste-to-energy contracts (Halifax (NS), Broome County (NY), San Juan (PR), Huntington (NJ), Westchester County (NY), Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority, Monmouth County (NJ), Montreal (QU), Pittsfield (MA)); materials recovery and composting contracts (Monroe County (NY), San Diego (CA), Somerset County (NJ), Rockland County (NY)); and hauling, disposal and franchise agreements (New York City (NY), Orange County (CA), Bergen County (NJ) and Anaheim (CA)).

Mr. Petersen is a co-founder of the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Urban Water Council. He makes regular presentations at conferences organized by the Council and by the American Water Works Association/Water Environment Federation (Joint Management Conference), the Center for Business Intelligence, the Design/Build Institute of America, the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships, the International City Managers Association, the Solid Waste Association of North America, and other forums on legal, environmental, tax and financing topics critical to the water, wastewater, solid waste and general infrastructure industries, and has authored numerous articles in the public contracts and procurement field.

Memberships

American Bar Association